Zorki 1 maintenance
Documentary smartphone pictures during some maintenance of my Zorki 1 type D (year 1955), Lyon, France, January 24, 2023.
After three films with the Zorki 1D, I realized that the rewind button was very stiff in the film advance direction (anti-clockwise) and normal in the rewind way (clockwise). There may be a sort of brake washers in the mechanism necessary to maintain the film well tensed. However these braking washers clearly needed to be lubricated not to have such strong and irregular resistance that caused even problems during the film advance.
After searching unsuccessfully some documentations (I found some technical views for the Leica IIIC - IIIF here : rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-154.html ) I decided to lubricate very carefully the system using my watchmaking Swiss synthetic, Moebius and sons, 9010, oil used to lubricate jeweled watch pivots. The Moebius 9010 is very fluid and I used my Bergeon "pic-huiles" to introduce in accessible places the minimum amount necessary to make the button normal. Now the rewind button is like the one of my Zorki-4K that was correct. I also introduced the minimum amount of the more-viscous Moebius 9020 oil at the edge of the focusing helicoidal ramp using a larger wood stick but keeping the oil amount to the minimum necessary to improve the fluidity of the focusing of the Industar-22 lens.
The Industar-22 lens received a new metal front cap (push-on 36 mm) that was missing. In the Zorki user manual it was recommended to cover the lens with the cap prior to rewind the film in case of accidental shutter opening.
I also tested the tripod thread converter 3/8'' ("pas du congrès") Kepler of the Zorki 1D and Foca PF2B to the thread 1/4" (Kodak thread) equipping nowadays the photographic accessories. I found too small vintage accessory cases to accommodate the push-on 36mm filters and the shade hood. These two leather cases were cleaned then treated with a quality leather conditioner (Swissvax) used in car detailing.
About the camera and the lens:
This camera is a practically mint sample of Zorki 1 just arrived to me in Lyon, France, January 10, 2023.
The camera looked exiting from the KMZ factory in USSR almost 70 years later spent in a time capsule ... with almost no traces of use. According to a custom receipt of July 28, 1955, signed in Vienna, Austria, the camera body and lens are the original matched ones. As for the original FED, FED-Zorki and Zorki's ("ФЭД", "ФЭД-Зоркий", „Зоркий“), the Zorki 1 was a straight legal copy of the Barnack Leica II after the cancelation of German camera patents following the end of WWII.
This Zorki 1 is a type D model PM1115 (year 1955 according sovietcams.com/index7584.html). Type D Zorki's were produced from 1953 to 1955 in about 250.000 units with serial numbers ranging from #470.000 to (in 1955) #55 45.000. The original lens of this Zorki units is an collapsible lens Industar-22 1:3.5 f=5cm.
In the rear pocket of the ever-ready leather bag was deposited the custom receipt and a film label of Agfa negative-color CN17 likely from the 60's.
Zorki 1 maintenance
Documentary smartphone pictures during some maintenance of my Zorki 1 type D (year 1955), Lyon, France, January 24, 2023.
After three films with the Zorki 1D, I realized that the rewind button was very stiff in the film advance direction (anti-clockwise) and normal in the rewind way (clockwise). There may be a sort of brake washers in the mechanism necessary to maintain the film well tensed. However these braking washers clearly needed to be lubricated not to have such strong and irregular resistance that caused even problems during the film advance.
After searching unsuccessfully some documentations (I found some technical views for the Leica IIIC - IIIF here : rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-154.html ) I decided to lubricate very carefully the system using my watchmaking Swiss synthetic, Moebius and sons, 9010, oil used to lubricate jeweled watch pivots. The Moebius 9010 is very fluid and I used my Bergeon "pic-huiles" to introduce in accessible places the minimum amount necessary to make the button normal. Now the rewind button is like the one of my Zorki-4K that was correct. I also introduced the minimum amount of the more-viscous Moebius 9020 oil at the edge of the focusing helicoidal ramp using a larger wood stick but keeping the oil amount to the minimum necessary to improve the fluidity of the focusing of the Industar-22 lens.
The Industar-22 lens received a new metal front cap (push-on 36 mm) that was missing. In the Zorki user manual it was recommended to cover the lens with the cap prior to rewind the film in case of accidental shutter opening.
I also tested the tripod thread converter 3/8'' ("pas du congrès") Kepler of the Zorki 1D and Foca PF2B to the thread 1/4" (Kodak thread) equipping nowadays the photographic accessories. I found too small vintage accessory cases to accommodate the push-on 36mm filters and the shade hood. These two leather cases were cleaned then treated with a quality leather conditioner (Swissvax) used in car detailing.
About the camera and the lens:
This camera is a practically mint sample of Zorki 1 just arrived to me in Lyon, France, January 10, 2023.
The camera looked exiting from the KMZ factory in USSR almost 70 years later spent in a time capsule ... with almost no traces of use. According to a custom receipt of July 28, 1955, signed in Vienna, Austria, the camera body and lens are the original matched ones. As for the original FED, FED-Zorki and Zorki's ("ФЭД", "ФЭД-Зоркий", „Зоркий“), the Zorki 1 was a straight legal copy of the Barnack Leica II after the cancelation of German camera patents following the end of WWII.
This Zorki 1 is a type D model PM1115 (year 1955 according sovietcams.com/index7584.html). Type D Zorki's were produced from 1953 to 1955 in about 250.000 units with serial numbers ranging from #470.000 to (in 1955) #55 45.000. The original lens of this Zorki units is an collapsible lens Industar-22 1:3.5 f=5cm.
In the rear pocket of the ever-ready leather bag was deposited the custom receipt and a film label of Agfa negative-color CN17 likely from the 60's.